Vendor Spotlight is back w/ Marupo's Egg Tarts! Bennett Lai started his business in October 2022 & began at AAFM in April 2023 w/ a mission to “share our culture through food". Marupo's delicious egg tarts have since become a market favorite! They offer two styles of egg tart: Portuguese Macanese pastéis de nata, Hong Kong dan tat, & milk tea. Their product line is also expanding to include spring rolls, mango sago, & more under the name Marupo Eats! Bennett Lai immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong for school in 2008, and soon began his search for Hong Kong style food in America. After not having much luck, he took matters into his own hands, trying to recreate rice bowls in dorms & dining halls. After graduation from U of M, Bennett moved to France and enjoyed the baking scene there, making the language barrier worth it! After moving back to the U.S., he started working at Google, but wanted to explore his passion for Hong Kong style food and baking. Thus began Marupo's Egg Tarts! After inquiring at AAFM about the process for becoming a licensed food vendor, Bennett returned a few months later ready to go & has since built a successful food business. He makes his products in the Growing Hope incubator kitchen in Ypsilanti. Marupo's Egg Tarts can be found at AAFM on most Saturdays, some Wednesdays, & their products can be ordered online for pick-up as well. They are also hiring sales & baking staff, & have an additional opportunity to “Pitch Your Skills" allowing folks to use a skillset that would help Marupo succeed in a position created just for the employee! Visit https://marupoeats.square.site/our-products​ to apply, order egg tarts, or read more about Marupo's story. Come try an egg tart & milk tea on Saturday at AAFM! 

Sodt Berry Farm Blueberries are a Summer Staple at AAFM! Dave Sodt's parents began the blueberry farm, & Dave purchased the business from them in 1985. Dave started bringing berries to AAFM that same year. In addition to the market, they also offer U-Pick blueberries at the farm. Located in Jackson, Michigan, they are one of the only blueberry farms left in Jackson County. They have a U-pick on their 6.5 acre farm & boast 7 varieties, although they are known for the large, sweet 'Blue Crop' variety. Sodt Berry Farm has been & continues to be a family business, with various family members helping out. Dave used to bring strawberries to market as well, & also offer strawberry U-pick at the farm, but after a few years of bad crops from pests & weather, they just focus on growing blueberries these days. You can find them at AAFM during blueberry season, which usually runs mid-July to Mid-August on Wednesdays and Saturdays! On Saturday, Dave thought they had a week or two left in the season this year but let us know today that unfortunately their 2023 is now over. Catch them back at market next July

Jay Jermo began his business in 2012 and started coming to AAFM in 2013. His family has been raising bees and producing honey in Michigan for nearly 100 years! After visiting his cousin's hives, Jay bought his first about a year later, and then recycled any money he made right back into purchasing more hives! Jay now has hives across the state, starting in Linden, Michigan and moving north and west. He places them in wooded areas, close to water and flowers. Jay's honey business comes in two main categories of honey: raw, local Michigan honey and flavored local honey. He also has beeswax products like lip balm available. Jay is passionate about flavoring honey for cooking, and offering recommendations and recipes for perfect pairings to the honey flavors he creates. He's also passionate about budget conscious, local, fresh food that's simple to prepare. This comes together in a monthly newsletter featuring a honey based recipe that's budget friendly and low effort, and also, delicious! You can sign up on his website and find a few to get started on his blog! AAFM is Jay's primary market, and he's passionate about being able to work for himself. A former banker and marketing professional in Chicago and Michigan, Jay did both for awhile and didn't expect to stick with the honey business. However, he found that he was getting excited for "work" on the weekend coming to markets! He's been much happier doing Hey Honey full time! Coming to market is his summer recreation, and he loves getting to know everyone and engaging with customers. You can meet Jay and get some honey at AAFM on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Ask about his current favorite flavor!

Formed in 2020, the Collective brought together Green Things Farm, The Land Loom, & Ann Arbor Seed Company. Located in Ann Arbor Township, Nate & Jill Lada began Green Things at the Tilian Farm incubator program in 2011 & purchased the land the collective farms in 2012. Hannah Weber ran The Land Loom for 5 years, also at Tilian, before joining the collective. Eric Kampe started Ann Arbor Seed Company in 2012 & joined the collective in 2020, before departing in late 2021. All 3 businesses were AAFM vendors before combining forces! Michelle Brosius is the other co-founder of the collective & manages the nursery & flower operations. Together, they have been able to vastly expand their farm offerings. Green Things Farm Collective values sustainable farm practices & soil regeneration. They are certified organic & use no-till practices. They offer many CSAs throughout the year, including several salad clubs & a u-pick flower CSA! Their beef is processed on-site after being raised on pasture, offering a truly local meat option, <1/2 mile outside of the City limits. They are also verified by the Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP), a voluntary program that helps farms minimize pollution risks from agricultural production. After becoming a collective, they began to sell seed and plants as well. Besides offering a variety of fresh produce & flowers, GTFC hosts events at the farmstead throughout the year. Their summer farm dinners are already sold out for 2023, but stay tuned for next year's offerings! The 2023 Fall CSA still has spots open & begins September 6th. Their farmstand is open seven days a week May-December & offers products from many other local businesses as well. Online ordering w/ pick-up at AAFM is also available! You can visit Green Things Farm Collective at AAFM on Wednesdays & Saturdays for great organic produce offerings! Check their website for more info www.greenthingsfarm.com

Jaspreet Sawhney comes from a family with a rich food tradition. Jaspreet's grandfather was a wheat farmer in Rawalpindi, prior to the 1947 Partition of India. During this tumultuous time the family was forced to pack up and flee over the border into modern day India. Though they lost everything, Jaspreet's grandfather was able to rebuild and grow his farm business. Jaspreet's father was a renowned chef who ran one of the top-rated restaurants in India. In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Jaspreet was spurred into starting his own food business to honor the legacy of his family. The result is Zaica Life. In Arabic and Punjabi “zaica" loosely translates into “flavor", but for the Zaica Life community the word takes on an additional meaning of “promoting a rich, flavorful lifestyle of wellness." Zaica Life sells top-quality tea and spice blends based on Ayurvedic principles, but this is only one aspect of the wellness equation as Jaspreet and his team are also committed to the health of the earth and underserved farming communities around the globe. All the ingredients in Zaica's products are sourced directly from tribal farmers, subsistence farmers, women farmers, and farmers with ecologically sound practices. The blends are then sustainably packaged without any single-use plastic. Preservation of heritage through food is also a foundational principle of Zaica Life. For example, the cumin they source comes from an 11^th generation cumin famer whose family has been saving seed all those centuries. The Zaica Life crew are full of such anecdotes and can tell you the stories of the foods they sell and their farm partners, whom they maintain close relationships with. Stop by and see them at their stalls on Saturdays so they can fill your cup. More info at zaicalife.com

Winning the prize for 1st sweet corn available at the market this year, our vendor spotlight this week is Marvin Parker. Famous for his sweet corn & other produce, Marv has been coming to AAFM since he was 10 years old. His parents began selling corn & fresh chickens at AAFM in the late 1920s, & Marv has carried on the tradition. He enjoys coming to market to meet & visit w/ customers & other vendors alike! The Parkers have sold many different goods at AAFM over the years, also previously at Ypsilanti Farmers Market & in Kroger stores. Marv remembers coming to market w/ a wagon load of corn to sell, his mother at the front dealing w/ customers & he & his older sister helping out. His father stayed in the wagon shoveling it to the front yelling “sooey sooey sooey" to the customers as if they were livestock. Other times, Marv remembers that there was a long line for the family's fresh chickens. Because of their selling at AAFM, the Parker family was able to make it through the Great Depression. His stall today is not far from where it was during these times! The family also used to have over 5,000 chickens for eggs & meat & ran an egg delivery service. Marv's mother Mildred, who passed in 2013, was a market staple for many years & even hired some vendors who are still at the market today to work on her farm picking peaches! Denny of Wolfe Orchard remembers being paid $1/hr to pick peaches, instead of 25 cents a bushel, because he was picking them faster than Mildred could sell them! ​Nowadays, Marv brings sweet corn, zucchini, tomatoes, watermelon, cucumbers, & kettle corn to market. He's attended many festivals in the area selling his sweet corn too. Though the operation is smaller than it used to be, Marv still grows 45 acres of sweet corn at the farm in Milan, MI, so his nephew comes to help at market during the summer corn season. You can find Marv every Wednesday & Saturday at AAFM in season. He has some great stories about the market over the years, and maybe you'll get to hear one as you stop by for sweet corn this summer

Carol Brooks has been a market staple for 30+ years, offering blueberries, chicken & duck eggs, kettle corn, sunflowers, snow cones, crocheted & woven goods, & more! Her family has been farming for 85 years, & Carol remembers going to Detroit Eastern Market w/ her parents to sell eggs & chickens when she was 10 years old. The blueberry patch was originally a family friend's, but now Carol & her son Mark take care of the plants & their chickens. Carol started selling snow cones & kettle corn w/ her husband & a group of 17 friends at various school functions, craft shows, & festivals. Now, there are only three friends left working the functions, but Carol is not going to stop selling snow cones! They've always been $1, & Carol keeps up the tradition because she loves to see the enjoyment it brings to folks of all ages. Many kids who grew up getting a snow cone from Carol have come back to market to say hi & purchase another. Carol is also an avid crocheter & weaver, & her crochet-topped hand towels & scrubbies are a favorite. She remarks that some kids come & spend their allowance on a scrubby & she's honored that they enjoy them. Brookside Farm grows several blueberry varieties, & she is the reigning 'blueberry queen' of the market! The Blue Crop is her favorite ones & are coming in strong this July. Whatever she does not sell fresh, she freezes, although bagging blueberries to freeze is not Carol's favorite job. She'd rather be in the patch picking berries, which she calls "blueberry heaven." Mark does all the "hard work" on the farm according to Carol, & she's grateful for his help as well as the help of Tom & Ava who were first customers but now assist Carol at her booth. Carol loves coming to market & talking to customers, learning from them, and making good friends. Come visit her this blueberry season every Wednesday & Saturday!

If you love Michigan fruit, you probably know the name Kapnick Orchards! Kapnick has been attending AAFM for 70+ years! Bob & Gertrude Kapnick started the farm in 1937 w/ vegetables, but then began to expand their fruit selection over the years. Today, 4 generations of Kapnicks have worked at the farm! In 1975, Charles & Janice Kapnick took over, & in 2001 their daughter Sharon, her husband Bruce Shaffer, & co-owner Scott Robertello, took over farm & orchard operations. Scott moved from Pennsylvania to Michigan in the late 1990s to start his own farming venture. He began working for the Kapnicks at the orchard & decided to stay on & become part owner of the business. He says that Kapnick attends many farmers markets in the area, but AAFM is their favorite since it's open year-round & has high foot traffic. Since AAFM is open year-round, as is Kapnick's own market at the orchard, they've been able to expand their offerings year-round! Kapnick Orchards boasts a huge diversity of fruit & offers one of the only fruit CSAs in MI. They are grateful for the 200+ yearly CSA shares that have helped them to grow & care for the orchard! In 2017, Kapnick won the award for the best apple cider in the state, & Scott says it's a product they are very proud of-rightfully so! This summer, you can already find peaches, raspberries, & sweet & tart cherries at their stalls. Blueberries & black raspberries are coming soon! U-Pick is available at the orchard for blueberries & some cherry varieties, as well as apples & pumpkins come the fall. Kapnick also offers grapes, many varieties of apples, strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus, peas, potatoes, baked goods, jams, & nut butters. You can find more info about Kapnick's fruit CSA & U-Pick opportunities on their website. Come visit them every Wednesday & Saturday at AAFM for all your local fruit needs! 

First Generation farmers Stephanie Willette and Taik Fountaine began farming as a pursuit to embark on together. In 2011, after completing an internship at Tantre Farm, they started their own farm business – Two Tracks Acres. Their farm (and 19^th century farmhouse!) sits on a 10-acre property in Grass Lake, MI that has been in continuous production (vegetables, dairy, livestock, hay) since the 1800's. Stephanie and Taik started out raising chicken and pork, selling through their CSA and at Chelsea and Grass Lake Farmers Markets, and tending to their farm chores after clocking out from their day jobs. They have since transitioned to certified organic produce and flowers and have become full-time farmers. Two Tracks Acres has been a vendor at AAFM since 2020 but (AAFM) market-goers and vendors know Stephanie from when she served as Market Manager from 2017-early 2020. Now on Saturdays, and some Wednesdays, she sits on the other side of the table with Taik and their two daughters Lucy and May. True market babies, both girls, ages 4 and 1, have been attending market since they were each three months old! Stephanie and Taik have accomplished what they set out to do by building their lives and family around their farm. While they grow a wide variety of items in all seasons, Two Tracks has a focus on season extension. By growing in hoophouses they can provide fresh salad greens early in the spring and late into the fall. Their customers may also know them for their dahlias and potatoes. With hoophouse space dedicated to dahlias the first fresh-cut, dinner-plate size blooms are already available at the market (if you arrive early enough). And new potatoes are just around the corner. Learn more about Two Tracks Acres at twotracksacres.com​

Longtime AAFM artisan Christine Schopieray has been in business for 37 years & began selling at AAFM in 1996! A trained metalsmith & jewelry maker, Christine prides herself on versatile, classy, & classic jewelry that can go from day to night w/ ease. She loves when someone is taken by a piece of her jewelry, especially when it is what someone has been searching for to complete an outfit. Growing up in Leelanau County Michigan, Christine loved walking along the beach & finding the rocks & stones along the way. Once she realized that jewelry & other art could be made from the natural world, she became inspired. In high school, she took every art class available, learning that she preferred working w/ 3D mediums to 2D. Her love for working w/ her hands led her to dental school, & she worked several years as a dental hygienist, thinking art was not a viable option for her. However, dental hygiene was not her true passion, & she found her way to art school in 1986 at Northern Michigan University. She moved to Ann Arbor in 1990 & began attending art fairs & markets before joining AAFM six years later. She has worked in nearly every gallery in the A2 area, & apprenticed w/ Austin Diamond. All of this hard work & passion for her hands on craft led her to earn two 1st places in the Michigan Jewelry Competition! Each of Christine’s designs can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 45 hours! She does all her own carving & casting of the metal pieces in her designs, making them unique & truly handmade. Christine lives in Ann Arbor w/ her husband, a “rock hound”, & she just recently retired from work w/ the City of Ann Arbor Mayoral Office & Office of Sustainability & Innovation. She loves being a vendor at AAFM because she says it’s “truly a one stop shop, you can get everything you need for a birthday party in one place, the gift, the flowers, the cake, & ingredients for dinner.” You can visit Christine at AAFM on most Wednesdays & Saturdays & view some of her award-winning work!

Dwight Carpenter, of Carpenter’s Greenhouse Produce, has been coming to AAFM every Saturday morning since he was a little boy. His dad started the business over 60 years ago, & his son Jeff is poised to carry on the family tradition. The whole operation is a family affair, w/ four generations of Carpenters tending to the crops & market stalls to this day. In the past, the family grew certified organic produce on several acres outdoors. Today, they specialize in hydroponic tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, & lettuce that they grow under half an acre of greenhouse space. Dwight was ahead of the curve in hydroponic growing & has been perfecting his technique since the late 90’s. He even holds a patent for the greenhouse tomato trellising technique he developed! Although no longer certified organic, the Carpenters still grow asparagus, berries, & some annual crops outdoors & remain committed to pesticide-free practices. Because of their indoor set up, Carpenter’s Greenhouse is always one of the first & last vendors to have summer crops available at the market. The first of the tomatoes, cukes, & zukes are already ripe, which means you can now find the Carpenters at every Saturday market. When the bumper crop of tomatoes comes on in a few weeks you are sure to find them on Wednesdays as well. In addition to quality produce they also sell chicken eggs as well as homemade jams made with local fruit. AAFM is their primary outlet, but you can also find their produce at Argus Farm Stop & at their newly opened, on-site farm & antiques store at 6145 W Chicago Rd in Allen, MI – open 9am-6pm, Monday-Saturday.

White Lotus Farms, founded in 2011, includes a bakery, creamery, farm, & farm cart. After over a decade of community gardening & cooking, members of the Tsogyelgar Buddhist Community realized that their skills were ready for business, & founded White Lotus Farms, joining the AAFM shortly after! White Lotus Farms has grown to offer local, organic greens & produce, cheese, bread, pastries, ravioli & pasta, salads, pizza, granola, & skin care products, all made on the farm. Their pastries, an AAFM favorite, are created with seasonal ingredients and flavors. White Lotus’ partnerships w/ other local farms run deep, and ingredients that can't be grown or raised on the farm are sourced from somewhere nearby, cultivating a truly local product line. Goat cheese & ravioli made from it are another customer favorite! You can check out some pretty cute pictures of the goat herd on White Lotus's social media too! Come visit them at AAFM each Wednesday and Saturday for a delicious seasonal pastry, cheese from their creamery, or dinner for the night!

Mindo was founded in 2009 in Dexter, Michigan when founder Barbara converted the first floor of her house into a commercial kitchen. Mindo has attended AAFM since that time. Barbara had moved to Ecuador some years before, & in search of internet, opened an internet café. While trying to find chocolate to make brownies for the café, she saw that there was a lot of cacao available, but not much chocolate, so she decided to make her own! Eventually making her way back to Michigan, she continued making bean to bar chocolate with the help of her daughters. Emily, one of Barbara’s daughters, still lives in Mindo, Ecuador and works closely with local farmers to source the cacao that is used to create Mindo’s chocolates. Alicia, Barbara’s other daughter, helps out here in Michigan. You may have even seen Alicia at their market table recently! In December of 2021, Mindo opened a café in Kerrytown, just steps away from AAFM, at 206 N. Fourth Ave. The café features Mindo’s unique, single origin chocolate bars, tiles, brownies, drinking chocolate, and chocolate-centric baked goods created in Michigan. They also host tastings, chocolate-making classes, and other events in the space. Mindo can be found regularly at Saturday markets, at their store, or online at https://mindochocolate.com/

Ken & Cathy King started Frog Holler Farm in 1972. They sold their first lettuce at AAFM in 1975 & have been attending market ever since! They were one of the 1st organic farms in SE MI & the 1st to join our market. Beginning as a way to supply produce to their restaurant, Indian Summer in Ann Arbor, their love for the farm soon took over & they closed the restaurant to focus on Frog Holler. In the 1980s, they began to offer organic vegetable & herb plant starts. Now, they have a crowded stall each spring Saturday w/ customers clamoring for seedlings for their gardens. In June & the summer months, they offer a variety of organic produce. Since Ken King’s passing in 2009, the farm has been run by Cathy & their three sons: Edwin, Billy, & Kenny. Besides a deep commitment to the land & their organic status, the uniqueness of Frog Holler’s plants & produce comes from a self-described “overly meticulous” way of farming over efficiency. The King’s are especially over-meticulous about their plant starts, carefully choosing the best varieties for the climate & of course, flavor! Online orders for plant starts can be made for pick-up at AAFM on their website. They even offer curbside pick-up at market! https://froghollerorganic.com/organic-plant-starts/.As if the farm wasn’t enough, Frog Holler Farm also hosts Holler Fest. Started in 2008 as a big party at the farm w/ one music stage, it has since grown to host 1200-1500 people a year. There’s lots of music, local vendors, & local food as well as camping. Frog Holler Farm has a produce stand & a kitchen at the event using all their freshly picked veggies. This year, Holler Fest is August 26-28 & more info can be found on the Holler Fest website. https://hollerfest.com/

Located in Chelsea, MI, Beulah Meadows LLC joined AAFM in 2009. They are a group of 5 women who are all 66 or older. They come from different backgrounds, but share a common philosophy of healthy eating & sharing w/ the community! Their ‘do nothing farming’ appr​oach, referenced on their market sign, means they practice natural farming with no fertilizer or pesticides. By letting their produce grow naturally, all of their products are very strong, happy & tasty! Their season starts in mid-April w/ delicious, wild-foraged ramps. In May, their beautifully fragrant peonies & very tasty asparagus arrives! They offer ashitaba, wild nettles, garlic chives, onion chives & herbs as well. They sell gorgeous Siberian garlic, potatoes, kale, & cut flowers too. We also can’t forget to mention their special​ty handpicked jams made w/ wild berries like chokecherries, elderberries, mulberries, raspberries, silverberries, & quince, & their delicious shortbread cookies made w/ the jam! Another one of their signature products is their very healthy nettle bread. Additionally, some of their more artistic members make one of a kind handmade pressed flower cards w/ wildflowers from the farm. All the cards are unique and different every time. You can find Beulah Meadows at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market from April through December on both Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

For market regulars who love produce, the name Tantré Farm is familiar. Started by Richard Andres in 1993, & joined by his wife Deb Lentz a few years later, Tantré has grown over the years to include 115 acres of wetlands, woods, & fields. They provide vegetables, fruit, & mushrooms to our AAFM community year-round, & are known for their carrots, winter radishes, shiitake, & raspberries. They strive to produce fresh, healthy foods for the local community, provide quality of life for the farmer, & sustain economic viability for the farm w/ care & respect for nature's diversity. They grow all their produce using organic practices, although they are no longer certified organic. Building relationships & interdependence w/ the environment & other farmers is at the core of what they do. Their interdependence w/ the community is apparent. In addition to selling at the AAFM, Chelsea Farmers Market, Argus Farm Stop, & to local restaurants, they offer a Community Support Agriculture program, or CSA. They offer weekly CSA boxes of produce to shareholders who pre-paid for the season. CSA members pick up their shares on Wednesdays or Saturdays at AAFM, including City of Ann Arbor Employee CSA Program members. Those cultivated relationships are clear at the Washtenaw Food Hub too. Richard says they started it in 2011 to support 'multi-farm processing, to create a greater continuity for those markets.' Other AAFM vendors that produce there include The Brinery, Harvest Kitchen, Raterman Bread, & It Kicks Salsa, highlighting the impact that Richard & Deb have had on helping local food businesses to grow. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, they started the wildly popular Immune Booster CSA. The immune booster is an aggregated weekly CSA, w/ items from other local farms & food businesses. It also differs from their traditional CSA since you can purchase it weekly. In 2021, they also added the Honeybee U-pick Patch off of Scio Church Rd in Ann Arbor, where community members can come pick their own delicious strawberries and raspberries! For more info you can follow them on social media & visit their website at www.tantrefarm.com​.

A self-described city kid hailing from Detroit, John began farming in April of 1994. Starting out w/ a few dozen chickens, John has since raised many types of birds, including ducks, turkey, & geese. John began farming because he wanted to know where his food was coming from. Poultry seemed like a good place to start as it wasn't as involved as cattle or sheep. Not having access to a non-existent internet, John learned from visiting farms and reading books. The farm grew organically and Harnois Farm became a vendor at AAFM. Harnois Farm raises free range poultry, fed with local feed, "bugs and slugs" and "organic water." John's main challenge is predators like woodchucks and rac​coons, but he has some help from his faithful cat with the smaller pests. John got out of the egg business a few years ago because he was working 18 hour days with no time off! Now, he has stepped back a bit, but is still raising poultry and will have hens, ducks, and turkeys next. What makes John's poultry unique is that he truly loves his birds, and puts real thought and consideration into each step of raising them. John's farm is only about 12.5 miles from market so it's quite local! You can find him on Saturdays at AAFM for your poultry needs or an engaging conversation! You may even see him wearing his famous turkey hat around Thanksgiving.

Café Japon, run by Miyoko Honma, offers traditional French pastries, Baguettes, chocolates, & more. In 2006 Miyoko opened Café Japon, a restaurant & bakery café serving Japanese & French cuisine. They also catered events & supplied pastry & baguettes to other local restaurants & stores. After closing the café in 2011, Miyoko moved her equipment to a new commercial kitchen next to her & her husband Tom's house. Around that time, Miyoko started at the AAFM & has brought her baked goods to the community for ~13 years. Miyoko is a self-described perfectionist. She started Café Japon w/ the goal of making the perfect baguette, & once it was up to her meticulous standards, she began to work on the perfect croissant, & now the perfect chocolates. This pursuit of perfection comes from Miyoko's days as an automotive engineer, where she applied the same principles of working hard to achieve the best in her field. Miyoko has trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York, the French Pastry School in Chicago, & L'Ecole de Chef Stephanie Glacier in France & institutions in Geneva, Switzerland. This training, her pursuit of perfection in the foods that she makes, coupled with using only the best ingredients that pass her sensitive palate, make Miyoko's creations unique. After hearing customers at AAFM talk about the foods that they had enjoyed at the restaurant Café Japon, Miyoko decided to put those recipes in a cookbook. The book, Multicultural Magic of Café Japon, also provides the recipe for her famous baguettes! You can find it at Café Japon's AAFM stall or in bookstores. Miyoko is now focusing more on perfecting her chocolates, which can be found at By the Pound in Ann Arbor & at AAFM on Saturdays alongside her baked goods.

Joseph Sanna has been at AAFM for almost three years, after starting off at Eastern Market in Detroit in 2011. Give and Grow Mushrooms was founded 11 years ago by Joseph and his father, Vincent. The two were enjoying their time foraging for Morel mushrooms & decided to start a mushroom cultivation business together. They retrofitted a pet store to start the process, & things have taken off from there! Give and Grow offers both cultivated & foraged mushrooms, priding themselves on offering many specialty varieties rarely seen at farmers markets or in traditional grocery stores. The uniqueness of their product is that the cultivation process is done entirely in-house, from the spawning to creating the substrate material to the harvesting. The growing process is also quite sustainable. Agricultural material used to grow the mushrooms can be composted & used in the process again, creating a circular & environmentally positive effect that Joseph is proud of. Joseph's day job is more mushrooms! He likes the scale of his own business but is always trying to make things more efficient by learning from the corporate scale. You can find Give and Grow Mushrooms at the AAFM on Saturdays as well as the Northville Farmers Market & Eastern Market Detroit. Find more info on their website: https://giveandgrowmushrooms.com or on social media. 

​Sherry Toney has been many things in her life. She has degrees in English & Teaching from UM, & an MA in Theater & Communication from EMU. She has worked as a clothing model, a teacher, a medical billing clerk, & a caterer. She is also the mother of former middleweight boxing champion James “Lights Out" Toney. But at AAFM she is best known for her pies. Sherry started Specialty Cakes & Pies over 40 years ago w/ a $600 small business grant, used equipment, & a rented space in a pizza joint's kitchen. AAFM was the first place she sold her pies & she has been a cornerstone of the market ever since. Over the years she grew her business, found her own commercial kitchen, & expanded her clientele. At one point Sherry attended several farmers markets & sold her pies to local grocers & cafeterias, & the dearly departed DeLong's BBQ. Today she focuses on selling exclusively at AAFM, which has always been her highest volume outlet. To cater to shoppers from all walks of life Sherry makes a variety of flavors & sizes of pies. But she is known for her delicious & authentic sweet potato & pecan pies. The quality of her pie sells itself but Sherry's lively personality attracts new customers & keeps loyal customers coming back. AAFM regulars know that Sherry is legit, & market just wouldn't be the same without her. If you don't already know, you can find Sherry on the Detroit St. aisle at every Saturday market from Palm Sunday until Christmas.

You could say that Jeb Booge (pronounced like “vogue") was destined to be a candle maker. Growing up on the E. Coast he was introduced early to colonial candle making techniques & remembers repouring old candles as a child. After a long career in manufacturing, first in fleet graphics, then as a cosmetics plant manager, Jeb combined his industry background w/ his childhood pastime to launch VogueBooge Candles in 2016. When he joined AAFM two years later, his business took off and he was able to turn his hobby into a new career. Jeb hand-pours his 100% soy, clean-burning candles in small batches & uses essential oil-based fragrances to craft his unique scents. Not only can customers be assured they are burning a non-toxic & biodegradable product, they can also bring back their empty containers to be refilled & receive $7 off their next purchase. W​hile he offers a wide array of scents, Jeb is perhaps best known for his line of Michigan-themed candles, inspired by some of his favorite places to visit. Each scent is carefully researched & developed to evoke the scent of the place it is named for. AAFM is the primary storefront of VogueBooge Candles. You are sure to find Jeb at every market, in any weather, behind his custom built wooden display. You can also find him at The Sunday Artisan Market, 11am-4pm each week until Christmas in our market space. To check out Jeb's full product line visit him on social media or at www.voguebooge.com.

​Jim Todosciuk started going to farmers markets when he was in high school, selling produce he grew in a large garden on his family’s property in Howell, MI. While he went to college for a degree in Drafting & Design & worked in that field for 5 years, he couldn’t resist the allure of the market. He continued to maintain his farm business & attended market on the weekends. In 1994, wanting to work for himself and enjoying the interactions he had with his customers, he decided devote his full-time to the farm. In 1997, he married his wife Tina & together they grew the business. Their farm has been selling quality produce to the A2 community since the early 90’s at AAFM, but more recently they have had the opportunity to partner w/ Michigan Dining. Now their vegetables can also be found on plates in student dining halls, Michigan Medicine hospitals, & University catered events. To sell to these institutions the Todosciuk’s underwent GAP certification, verifying that they grow, pack, and handle their produce in accordance w/ FDA recognized food safety standards. In addition to having staple produce items year-round, such as zucchini & eggplant in the summer and cabbage, rutabaga, parsnips & other root vegetables in the winter, Jim & Tina also grow ornamental plants for all seasons. They are well-known as well for the Victorian Kissing Balls & holiday greenery. You can visit Jim & Tina at their stalls almost every Saturday,​​ on Wednesdays in season, & online on​ ​Facebook.

Flour, water, salt – these are the only ingredients in Nick Raterman’s traditional German sourdough. What transforms these simple ingredients into flavorful & nutritious bread is slow fermentation. Natural starter (captured wild yeast) breaks down the compounds in the organic, freshly milled grain over the course of many days. The result is a fluffy & delicious loaf that is easy to digest & good for everyone, even sensitive bellies. Nick has been perfecting this process, part art & part science, since he began baking bread as a hobby over a decade ago. While pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree at MSU he began baking bread for himself, friends, & family. After graduating & moving to his wife Violet’s hometown of Ann Arbor he turned his hobby first into a side-hustle, & then into a full-time career. In 2018, Nick started Raterman Bread Haus out of his home kitchen, before moving his operation to the Washtenaw Food Hub to increase his production. Now he is ready to expand again. In early summer he will be launching Raterman Bread Haus & Bistro at its new location on Grand Street in downtown Dexter! Traditional sourdough will be the foundation of a menu that will include sandwiches, pizza, soup, & more. AAFM shoppers will still be able to find their favorite loaves, bread twists, & pretzels at the Raterman stalls every Saturday market. To find their products & keep up w/ these exciting developments visit www.ratermanbread.com & follow them on social media.

If you've been to AAFM in the last 20 years you've undoubtedly had the pleasure of meeting farmer Jon Goetz, Karlene Goetz, or any of their four sons. You may have even heard a tall tale or two from Farmer Jon! Goetz Family Farm has been a staple produce vendor at our market since 2000, but their Centennial Farm has stood much longer. Jon's grandparents purchased the farm in Riga, MI in 1905 & the Goetz family has been stewarding the land since. In the late 70's they transitioned the farm from grain & livestock to growing fresh vegetables & fruit for their community. Now managed by the 3rd & 4th generations, the Goetz Family's key to flavorful produce is healthy soil. They use cover crops, manure, & compost to sustainably build the soil, & plant wildflowers & filter strips to prevent runoff, while promoting beneficial insect life. In addition to their year-round produce, the Goetz's bring seasonal favorites to market like hanging baskets, beddings plants, cut flowers, sweet corn, melons, pumpkins, wreaths, & holiday greenery. They also offer a CSA from June-October w/ their farm's offerings. Any time of year, you are sure to find Goetz Family Farm at market on Saturdays & on Wednesdays in season. Learn more about how you can support this farm family on their website: https://www.sites.google.com/site/goetzgreenhouse​

When temps rise above freezing during the day & fall below freezing at night, the tree sap starts flowing & maple sugaring season begins. To make their maple syrup, Farmers Malaika Whitney and Matthew Haarklou employ a traditional method, hand-collecting sap in buckets and boiling it down over a wood fire they tend, day and night, in the sugar house. Malaika & Matthew have been making their maple syrup, and practicing regenerative ranching, full-time since 2014. But the roots of this tradition, and their century old trees, run deep at 6th generation Whitney Farmstead. Malaika’s great, great grandfather purchased the farm in Webster Township, Northwest Ann Arbor, in 1900. The farm operated mainly as a dairy and an orchard until the price of milk plummeted in the 1980’s and the family had to exit the business. Luckily, using local conservation programs, the Whitney’s were able to keep their land in the family & the farm in production, raising animals & renting parcels to neighbors for row crops. Since Malaika & Matthew have been farming the property, t​hey have been committed to stewardship & keeping traditional craft alive. They transitioned the land from tillag​e-heavy conventional grain production to pasture & hay, using heritage breed animals to sustainably manage 120 acres of perennial pasture. You can find their 100% grass-fed beef & lamb, pastured pork & chicken, wool products, hand-made greeting cards, & top quality maple syrup (while supplies last!) at most Saturday markets, & at their farmstand Wednesdays 4-7pm. Learn more on their website & newsletter: https://whitneyfarmstead.com​

Ferial Rewoldt has been a health professional her whole life. She was working as a nurse in Beirut, Lebanon before immigrating to the US in 1976 and attending the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. She stayed in Ann Arbor to raise a family and worked as a RN at Michigan Medicine for 30 years before retiring in 2011. After just a few years in retirement Ferial grew restless. In 2016 she started Humus Falafel, providing Washtenaw County with a health service of a different kind – Mediterranean food! Ferial began her business in a church kitchen in Chelsea, selling at their Farmers Market before moving to the Growing Hope Incubator Kitchen in Ypsilanti in 2018. Humus Falafel has been a presence at the AAFM since 2017 selling traditional favorites from around the Mediterranean like hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel sandwiches, stuffed grape leaves, baklava, & spinach pies. Ferial rarely misses a market, even in the colder months. Look for her blue tent along the Detroit Street aisle or follow your nose to her famous spinach pie, accented by feta, pecorino cheese, spinach, & spices baked between golden phyllo pastry. For more info visit: www.facebook.com/humusfalafil/​

​In 1931, Hungarian immigrants James & Rose Nemeth bought an 80 acre apple orchard in Ypsilanti, Michigan. That same year their son Alex was born, and he grew up working the farm and market with his parents. Alex was a toddler when he first started coming to Ann Arbor Farmers Market, even before our iconic roof-structure was built! Later, he would marry his wife Agnes and they would take over the family business. Today, the orchard has been operating 92 years, Agnes is still the owner, and the fifth generation of Nemeths (aka the “Apples Bosses”) have begun to carry on the work their great, great grandparents started. Nemeth Orchard grows 22 varieties of apples, five varieties of pears, and Concord grapes. As soon as the first of the summer apples are ready to harvest in late July you can find them at every Saturday market. Their earliest variety, the light green “Transparent” (pictured) has been a market staple for years. They are also known for their award-winning cider! Once they start pressing cider and baking fresh donuts in August, they attend every Wednesday and Saturday market until they sell out of apples in the Spring. If you are looking for the perfect apple for any occasion, stop by their stalls. For more info, visit their page: https://www.facebook.com/nemethorchard/​

Ask Debbie Marx about her stones and her face will immediately light up. After falling in love with the intricacies of stones as a child, she chose to study geology at her local college. In 1988 she was able to work alongside two jewelry designers from Parsons School of Design, combining her lifelong love of stones and newfound passion for crafting jewelry. She joined us at the AAFM in 1991 as the founder and sole employee of her jewelry line, Sticks and Stones. For Debbie’s first 21 years at the market, she drove eighty miles one-way to Ann Arbor. She loves the energy here so much, which she credits to the “young people,” that she moved to Ann Arbor a little over ten years ago to be a greater asset to the community and the market. Debbie’s work includes all Michigan stones, either from her own or her friends’ collections. She takes pride in her work, ensuring quality craftsmanship in each of her beautiful pieces. Debbie is a core artisan at the AAFM, here every Saturday and most Wednesdays, sometimes even appearing at the Sunday Artisan Market. For more info, stop by her stalls near the entrance to Kerrytown Shops!

Established in January 2019 after brothers Dusty and Derek Sherman began curiously brewing in their Homer, MI basement, their mission is to cultivate craft ciders that anyone can love. They use Michigan apples in their diverse array of brews and partner with local artists to design their can labels. Odd Brothers recognized from the start the potential farmers markets have for reaching new consumers, and joined our market in early 2022. The Michigan Small Winemakers License is essential to any small wine, cider, or mead maker looking to sell their products at farmers markets, from their own facility, or wholesale to retailers. Securing this license is a lengthy process, which requires additional City approval to sell at our market, so we were ecstatic when Odd Brothers joined us. Their presence at Ann Arbor Farmers Market allowed Odd Brothers to forge retail relationships in the Ann Arbor area, swiftly boosting their popularity and demand. Unfortunately for us, and fortunately for them, in late 2022 Odd Brothers began producing more than the MI Small Winemakers License allows (50,000 gallons per year). This means that their business has grown too big to continue as our vendor and their last market with us was in December. We will certainly miss them but we wish them success in their future “odd" endeavors. You can find their ciders in Ann Arbor at: The Grotto, HopCat, Plum Market, Everyday Wines, Arbor Farms Market, Blue Front, Produce Station, and A&L Wine Castle. Find more info at: oddbrotherscider.com

John Cox started Baseline Farm in Dexter, Michigan in 2016 with 30 head of cattle. Today he has over 170 calves, steers, and bulls. His cattle are 100% grass-fed, pasture raised, and hormone free. They eat standing forage for the entire outdoor season and are fed hay during the dead of winter. The ecological practices of Baseline Farm all starts with growing good grass. John rotates his cattle from pasture to pasture, ensuring rest and regrowth between grazing. In this way he is able to sequester carbon, regenerate soils, and raise healthful and flavorful beef. You can find Baseline Farm at almost every Saturday market or connect with John directly at baselinefarm.com. Read more about Baseline Farm here.​​